What is the Torus?

In the mid-90s, searching for web content was often a bit of a chore and was driven primarily by shared links from friends or groups, or by long lists of hyperlinks on home pages. Then we got webrings.

A webring was beautifully simple: a circle of websites, linked together by moderators or website owners who shared a common passion. You'd land on a page about vintage synthesisers or Novell NetWare drivers, and at the bottom, you'd find a small navigation bar. Next. Previous. Random. Click, and you'd tumble into another corner of someone else's obsession.

There was no ranking. No optimisation. No engagement metrics. Just people who cared about a subject, they reached out to the owners of those websites and agreed to link to each other.

Webrings were roads of discovery powered by trust. If you loved this subject or web site, then you might love the next one too. It could be hit-and-miss, but you'd spend an evening clicking through a ring of sites about electronic music or X-windows, each one handmade in notepad, and each one someone's labour of love.

So what is the nekotopia torus? As an extension of the 'ring', we aim to bring passionate people together again. The modern Internet is hostile to clear-text websites or telnet services. We built the torus to supply a framework for these legacy, insecure platforms.